Arsenal: Ivan Perisic Not Nearly Enough For Alexis Sanchez

Ivan Perisic has arisen as a possible option for Arsenal to replace the potentially outgoing Alexis Sanchez. While talented, he is not nearly enough.

The long-term futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are a growing concern for Arsenal, Arsene Wenger and the fanbase. Now, with their contracts continually dwindling down, the latest name to be linked as a possible replacement is Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic.

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Sanchez, in particular, has been sensational this season. In the Premier League alone, the Chilean has scored 15 goals, bettered by no one and matched by just Diego Costa of Chelsea who is enjoying an equally remarkable year.

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Arsenal’s instigator, though, is far more than mere goals. He has also racked up seven assists in the Premier League, the equal fourth best in the league, and is the central figure in the Premier League’s highest scoring attack, utilising his electric pace, effervescent pressing and vigorous style to engineer space, chances and ultimately goals, for his teammates as well as himself.

The Chilean is an outstanding talent, spearheading the North London side from either a central or wide role. He is versatile, industrious and wonderfully gifted. Consequently, if the worst is to happen and he continued spurning the club’s contract advances, choosing to leave the Emirates at the end of the season, simply signing a good but not great player is not an adequate replacement.

Sanchez is a truly world-class player, one of only a couple in the Arsenal squad. Perisic, the Inter Milan forward who impressed for Croatia at the summer’s European Championships and has been touted as a possible candidate for a move to the Premier League for some time, is not in the same tier of player as Sanchez.

The stats back that up. In his career (by career, I refer to league, Champions League and international matches), Perisic has scored 47 goals in 201 games, assisting 25. In more recent years, for Inter he has scored seven goals and assisted a further six in 34 games last season, and six months into this year, has played 25 Serie A and Champions League games, has scored seven again with only two assists.

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Those numbers, while impressive, are not in the same league as Sanchez. For Arsenal, in the Premier League and Champions League, Sanchez has scored 52 goals, assisted a further 28 in only 107 games. Ultimately, Perisic is not nearly good enough to replace the might of Sanchez. If Arsenal do need to replace their Chilean, they must set their sights very high indeed.